The Sacrament of First Communion

Day School and Parish School of Religion (PSR):

If students have previously been Baptized, First Communion is celebrated when children are in the second grade and after they have completed a period of preparation. First Communion is scheduled at Assumption Parish sometime after Easter. The date and times are usually announced in August.

Adults going through the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA) celebrate their First Eucharist during the Easter Vigil.

Children (previously Baptized) who did not celebrate their First Communion with their second grade class, can do so at a Sunday Mass after a period of preparation as scheduled by the PSR Coordinator, Principal, or Priest.

Eucharist can then be celebrated each day of the week, with Sunday Mass being the highlight of our week.

"Then he took the bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them, saying, 'This is my body, which will be given for you; do this in memory of me.' And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which will be shed for you.'" Luke 22:19-20

Eucharist is the Body of Christ broken for us; the Blood of Christ poured out for us. It is the One who entered into our dying so that we might enter into His rising. Eucharist is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. It is Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Sunday all rolled into one mysterious event. To behold the Eucharist is to behold Love! Eucharist is a taste of God.

Transubstantion

Catholics believe the simple gifts of bread and wine become the actual Risen Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. The Risen Body of Christ is a state of being that is beyond our imagination or understanding. It is not the same as physical human flesh and human blood. It is a sublime state that is in perfect union with God in the Holy Spirit, a full and pure divinity of perfect Love that we are all trying to attain through our lives of faith.

Physical characteristics like hair color, eye color, skin color, freckles, tone of voice, etc. are known as biological accidents. They are parts of us over which we have no control. In addition to biological accidents, we all also have a unique spirit, a unique way of thinking, using language, unique talents, etc. Imagine we could take the unique spirit of Jane and put it into the body of Alice. We would see and hear the biological accidents of Alice but we would also notice the unique spirit of Jane.

When we consecrated the bread and wine at Mass, we believe the bread and wine are transubstantiated. That means the substance is changed -- we see, touch, and taste the accidents of bread and wine but we believe they have become the Risen Christ. We consume this meal so that bit by bit our own humanity is being more and more transformed into divinity.

As the source and summit of our lives as Christians, Eucharist nourishes us in our ongoing journey of conversion. It is the sacrament that has bound us together one to another and with Christians of every age, place, race, tongue, and way of life. Eucharist is a miracle of graced friendship. We come to listen and to love and, having loved, we come in order to be sent to complete Christ's work on earth. We do it over and over. In a way, it is like the air we breathe – absolutely essential for life but often taken for granted. And yet, as frequent and familiar as it is, it is also and always mysterious to us that God would choose such simple elements as story-telling and table-sharing to move among us and to touch and transform our hearts. The Eucharist is a great, unmerited gift for our lives!